Cancer Center at Illinois (CCIL) member Hua Wang, a professor of materials science and engineering, earned an Early Career Award from the METAvivor Foundation. Wang’s research project, “Next-Generation Exosome Vaccines for Treating Metastatic Breast Cancer,” was one of 14 projects awarded by Metavivor, which distributed $3.55 million to the research grant awardees to advance metastatic breast cancer (MBC) research.
“I’m excited to receive this METAvivor award, which bears the hope of several breast cancer patient advocates with whom I have been interacting. Our lab shares the same goal with Metavivor: hopefully, one day our lab’s cancer vaccine will benefit patients and save lives. I look forward to joining the METAvivor community and their battle against MBC,” said Wang.
The METAvivor research grants support innovative, patient-centered science with one bold goal: to help make metastatic breast cancer a chronic disease—no longer terminal. Since 2009, the METAvivor community has raised more than $40.8 million exclusively for MBC research.
METAvivor was established in 2009 by a small group of metastatic breast cancer patients who were determined to make a difference. At the time, no organization was dedicated to funding research for the disease, and no patient groups were speaking out about the lack of stage 4 cancer research. Since its founding, METAvivor has become internationally recognized for raising awareness and funds explicitly for MBC research.
Hua Wang
Associate Professor, Materials Science & Engineering
Research Program and Theme
- Program: Cancer Engineering and Biological Systems
- Theme: Comparative and Engineered Oncology Models
Research Focus
Hua Wang’s laboratory aims to understand how cells can be manipulated and engineered to facilitate targeted delivery of therapeutics and to regulate intercellular interactions, thereby improving and innovating therapies for cancers, injured tissues, autoimmune disorders, and other diseases. In one path towards this goal, his lab utilizes chemistry, chemical biology, and synthetic biology tools to modify or engineer cells for subsequent tracking and targeted modulation in vivo. Along another path, his lab develops biomaterials that can target and manipulate immune cells in vivo and applies them to the development of cancer vaccines, cell therapies, and medical devices. Learn more about Hua Wang’s lab.
Editor’s notes:
Hua Wang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at Illinois. Wang is also an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering, and an affiliate of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. He can be reached at huawang3@illinois.edu.
This story was written by Jonathan King, CCIL Communications Specialist.